Richard Menendez (l to r) and Donna Anderson, both of San Francisco, looks over a handout during a closing procedure activity during a poll worker training class at City Hall on Thursday, May 1, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif.

An un-voted ballot message appears out of tabulator as David Bell, Department of Elections presenter, gives instructions during a poll worker training class at City Hall on Thursday, May 1, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif.

California's monthlong election day begins Monday, when the first of more than 8 million early ballots go out to people looking to turn their living rooms into voting booths.

In county election offices across the state, booths also are being set up to accommodate the increasing number of voters who want to make their ballot decisions early.

"We've already got the booths lined up outside our office in City Hall, ready for business," said John Arntz, San Francisco's election chief.

The surging number of early and vote-by-mail ballots has had a profound effect on California elections, changing both the way people vote and how candidates campaign. Because voting starts almost a month before the June 3 primary, the traditional bombardment of TV and radio ads, mailers and partisan phone calls has begun earlier, too.

"No one outside my family cares about the stress early voting causes consultants," said Eric Jaye, a San Francisco political adviser. "But now it's like election week for four weeks. In order to get to voters when they're making their decisions, you need longer campaigns."

Political ads start early

There's a reason that 30-second political spots are already filling the airwaves, said Dan Newman, a Democratic political consultant. The old strategy of hanging on to campaign cash for a blitz in the final few days before the election just doesn't work anymore because hundreds of thousands of voters already have cast ballots by then.

"The mail ballot return rate is U-shaped, with the biggest numbers early and late," Newman said. "Some people send their ballots in right away, and others leave them in a pile on the table and return them around election day."

For many voters, mail ballots can be a way to have the best of both worlds, said Scott Konopasek, assistant registrar for Contra Costa County.

"They can get their ballot earlier and go over it, but still hang on to it until late, in case something happens in the election," he said.

By law, mail ballots can be dropped off at any polling place in the voter's county on election day, which is good news for the many procrastinators who never get around to taking the ballot to the mailbox. But since there's no time to process and verify those late-arriving ballots on election day, that means election night can extend for days, much to the dismay of nervous candidates and their supporters.

"About 15 percent of our ballots are counted after election day, which can affect close races," Konopasek said. "It doesn't change (voting) trends, but it adds some drama."

Until 1978, California had the traditional absentee voter system, where only those with a medical excuse or who would be out of town on election day were allowed to vote in advance. In the primary election that year, 4.7 percent of the 6.8 million votes cast were absentee.

Since then, California has moved to a "no-fault" system, where any voter can request a mail ballot, no questions asked. But the vote-by-mail numbers really started to take off after 2001, when a new law allowed voters to register for what then was called permanent absentee status, which meant they would automatically receive a mail ballot for every election, large or small.

Voter habits change

In the 2002 primary, 26 percent of California voters cast ballots by mail. By the 2012 primary, that figure had soared to 65 percent.

The change in voting habits already has had an effect on local election offices. Napa County, for example, had 99 polling places for the November 2006 election. On June 3, there will be 14.

"We are allowed to close a polling place when the number of voters falls below 250," said John Tuteur, registrar-county clerk. "Since 58 percent of our voters are permanent vote-by-mail, the number of polling place voters keeps dropping."

Oregon and Washington state have dumped polling places altogether and conduct elections only by mail. Two of California's smallest counties, Alpine and Sierra, also have all-mail elections.

"Our dilemma now is that we're always conducting two elections, one where we have to prepare as though everyone was going to show up at the polls and a second that's vote-by-mail," Konopasek said. "It really taxes our resources. ... An all-mail election would be a much easier process for everyone."

Polling places staying

"In a state the size of California, with more than 17 million voters, it is not likely that we will do away with polling places," Velayas said. "Many voters still prefer to vote at their neighborhood polling places."

While supporters of all-mail elections argue that the growing move away from polling places will boost the state's often-disappointing voter turnout, plenty of other folks in the political process don't see it that way.

"It's not how people vote that drives turnout," said Jaye, the San Francisco consultant, "but rather who and what is on the ballot for them to vote for."

Early ballots

Registration: May 19 is the last day to register to vote for the June 3 primary. Registration forms must be postmarked or electronically transmitted by that date.

Ballot requests: May 27 is the final day to request a vote-by-mail ballot.

Voting deadline: Ballots must be received at the county elections office or a county polling place by 8 p.m. on election day to be counted.